While the skating futures of Evan Lysacek and Gracie Gold still have mainly unanswered questions, here are some updates on the their situations:

*Frank Carroll told me Monday morning that Lysacek, the 2010 Olympic men's figure skating champion, got back on the ice last Thursday and Friday in Los Angeles after being sidelined for about a month.

“He did some skating, not very complicated things,” Carroll said.

Lysacek withdrew from the U.S. International Classic earlier this month with an abdominal tear, and he has not competed since winning the Olympic gold. He still is scheduled to compete at Skate America Oct. 18-20, but that seems less and less likely, even if Carroll hasn't ruled it out.

“He is not now at the (physical) level he will need to be for Skate America,” Carroll said. “I’m anxious to see how he is doing today.”

*Gold and Carroll had three working sessions last week, the coach said. One involved explaining his methods and his ideas on jump technique; one had a few jumps; and one focused on her short program music and choreography.

“We have barely scratched the surface of anything yet,” Carroll said.

Carroll said he had no idea whether he would become Gold’s full-time coach or, if he did, whether he would change some of her music.

“We haven’t even talked about whether she likes or dislikes my ideas,” he said. “We barely know each other at this point.”

Gold, 18, was second at nationals and sixth at worlds last season, In late August, she left Alex Ouriashev, her primary coach the past two seasons. She went to Los Angeles last week for a tryout period of unspecified length with Carroll.